Shareholders of giant building material manufacturer,Lafarge Africa Plc, have approved the distribution of N13.7 billion as cash dividends and 496.8 million shares, as bonus shares.
The approval of the dividend was sequel to the approval of the audited report and accounts of the group for the year ended December 31, 2015.
Also the company has said it will leverage on the increase in its production capacity, opportunities from the expansionary government budget and large portfolio of building solutions to grow its market share and deliver better returns to shareholders.The board of the cement group gave the assurance at the annual general meeting in Lagos.
Chairman, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mr. Mobolaji Balogun, said the group had used the immediate past business year, the first full year after the consolidation of its businesses in Nigeria and South Africa, to strengthen the platform to drive value creation for shareholders and other stakeholders.
He noted that the company sees growth opportunities in 2016 and beyond for the building material sector. According to him, this year’s Federal Government budget indicates a significant increase in the spending on infrastructure and capital projects.
Balogun noted that the company has continued to build on the successful consolidation of its businesses through some strategic initiatives including ongoing efforts to fully consolidate the ownership of Ashaka Cement and Unicem.
To this end, he urged shareholders to support the ongoing Voluntary Tender Offer for Ashaka Cement which provides opportunity for the minority shareholders to participate in a much larger growth platform, which Lafarge Africa represents.
